Apple could benefit from Windows 10 privacy nightmare

Windows users with privacy fears are having their heads turned by the Mac

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Remember a couple of weeks back when Windows 10 was blasted for collecting "excessive data" by French regulatory body the CNIL? Well apparently this is making more people mull over switching away from Windows to OS X (or macOS as it will soon be).

At least, according to a recent UK survey commissioned by Comparitech.com (and carried out by OnePoll), 67% of Windows users would "at least consider" making the move to a Mac due to privacy worries.

15% said they would "definitely consider" doing so, which indicates that the aforementioned two-thirds majority is more of a sentiment rather than an actual likelihood of migrating away from Microsoft's OS.

The third of users who wouldn't be swayed said they would "not even consider" making the jump to OS X, even in the light of damning comments from French authorities – which followed a lot of previous negative media coverage on Microsoft's privacy failings with Windows 10.

Still, it's clear enough that privacy issues are causing a great number of people to have second thoughts about Windows 10.

Alarm bells

Paul Bischoff, who is privacy advocate for Comparitech.com, said: "These issues are things that have set off alarm bells within the security community on release of Windows 10 a year ago. Now, with France taking the next step in ordering Microsoft to fix them, it's a small win for privacy and the wider public who have expressed concerns.

"Companies tend to take these issues seriously when people start voting with their wallets, so hopefully the results from this survey should serve as a wake-up call that consumers are becoming more privacy conscious."

Exactly how far Redmond will go in fixing said privacy issues is debatable, but the company has said it will work closely with the CNIL to find solutions which the agency deems acceptable.

The same survey was conducted over in the US, incidentally, and the number of those who would at least consider switching OS was slightly less at 61% – but still clearly the majority.